A Policy Guide: Making Parking Lots and Commercial Driveways Safer for Pedestrians

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Abstract

Commercial developers do not typically prioritize pedestrians in the design of parking lots and commercial driveways. Everyone who visits a commercial development is a pedestrian. A person may walk from their home, the bus stop, or their car to the store. If everyone is walking at some point during their visit, why are pedestrians not included in the design process? Certain municipalities are taking the lead by incorporating pedestrian safety initiatives into their policies and guidelines. In my research, I analyzed nineteen plans and design guidelines in North America and ranked each documented based on a set of writing and pedestrian safety criteria. I used criteria from a Planning Aid England document to determine the quality of the policy maker’s writing. The second set of criteria I used was determined by a literature review of pedestrian studies to identify pedestrian safety infrastructure that can be included in a pedestrian safety policy. I used this research to develop a policy guide that would aid in the creation of pedestrian safety policies. The findings include a detailed discussion on the criteria used for assessment, policy examples from across North America, and tips for implementation to ensure the policies would be effective.